Red Dead Reputation
by Gigaswoo
Summary: John has earned a new name for himself. "The man who took on the west." Unfortunately this places his family in danger yet again. Set after Red Dead Redemption if it didn't end the way it did.


"_Damn rustlers."_

John almost felt like cursing his heart out at his captors and his predicament but he was smart enough to know that doing that would less than encourage them to keep him alive… for whatever purpose. He surveyed the dark caves illuminated by lamps resting on boxes of well what John thinks is most likely ammunition. With his hands and legs tied together, his gear taken and his favourite cowboy hat taken by one of his captors for him to play cowboy with. John was once again contemplating if this was going to be his way to go. "_And what a crap way to go it is." _He thought bitterly to himself.

He reflected on the day that got him into this mess in the first place, the day that the FBI came back to his home.

_It was a warm summer's day at the Marston family's ranch. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Uncle was sleeping near the silo with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. It was a normal almost perfect day for John Marston. John was going to do some cattle herding seeing the perfect opportunity to do so until he saw a large collection of silhouettes slowly approaching from the hills in the distance._

_John was watching the hills very closely with a strong sense of preparation. He didn't know what any of this was but he had the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind ever since he reunited with his family that Edgar Ross was never finished with him quite yet._

_As moments passed the figures coming up the hill were clearly a large group mostly comprising of US army soldiers on horseback along with a handful of agents from the Bureau but John couldn't make out if either of them were Ross or his rght hand man, Mr. Fordham._

_John was just about to get his rifle with haste until the soldier wearing the captain's uniform raised his hand up to signal that they meant no threat to him. A physical threat anyway. John stopped in his place as he saw the captain's raised hand._

_But that was just one of two things that stopped him._

_As he looked closer he could clearly see the face of Ross as he emerged behind the captain on horseback now seemingly taking the captain's place as leader of the group. He was wearing that distinctive smug smirk of his which always annoyed John even more than his talking. Soon enough, Mr. Fordham appeared beside Ross on horseback with a stoic expression._

"_What the hell could they possibly want from me now?" John thought to himself. Somehow the tall shadows on the ground and the stamping hooves didn't wake Uncle from his deep slumber. But they definitely woke someone else inside the house._

"_Pa? What's going on?" Jack Marston was still wearing his white pyjamas when he recently woke from the sounds that the hooves were making and was groggily rubbing his eyes. As he looked at the sight before him his eyes widened in fear and shock. _

"_Um, pa?" _

_John put a hand on his son's shoulder to reassure him as the large posse came closer. "Don't worry son, it's just the government coming back for more business." Jack looked upset at his words as he looked down at his feet with a defeated sigh. "Are you going to leave us again?" John turned his head to look at his melancholic child with a sympathetic expression. "Probably, go back inside and look after your mother I need to talk to these men." Jack slowly nodded his head in obedience and ran back into the Marston house to check on Abigail._

_With a deep sigh John turned back to look at the group now just mere meters from him with Ross disembarking his horse as was Fordham and the army captain while the rest stayed behind them. "Ok, what do you assholes want now?" John was practically grinding his teeth as the trio approached him with Ross letting out an amused chuckle. "Now John, that's no way to greet an old friend." John scoffed at the older man's clearly sarcastic words. "You're no friend of mine Ross. I usually don't consider folks who kidnap my family to be any kind of friend of mine at all."_

_Ross merely paced up and down in front of John as he kept one hand on the rim of his bowler hat. "Tsk tsk John, we didn't kidnap them we merely sent them on a vacation that's all." John stared intently at the agent with rising anger. "All just to get me to hunt down my former brothers in arms while I almost got killed for too many times to count in the process."_

_Ross stopped to face John with a wicked smile. "Well we did have compensation in place in the event of your death." John flashed a winning smile at the grey haired man before him. "And here I am still alive and kickin'." Ross smirked a winning smirk at the brown haired man before him. "This was the intended result. I know you're a tough nut to crack." John clenched his fists with a scowl. "That's funny. I heard that bullets were perfectly capable of cracking nuts." Ross shrugged with a confident chuckle. "Well that was a risk that I was willing to take."_

"_And I bet this time ain't much different. What do you want from me now?" Ross placed his hands together as if he was pleased. "Ah. Down to business I like it." John rolled his eyes. "And I'd like it to end as soon as possible." Ross waved one finger at him. "Patience is a virtue, John." Ross turned his head to look at Fordham and the captain._

"_Now Mr. Fordham, Captain Reynolds. Would you be so kind to explain the situation to our ignorant friend?" John would strike back with an insult if he wasn't so used to Ross's._

_Fordham spoke first with a hint of respect to John in his voice. "As you probably know word gets around fast in these parts. The capture of Javier Escuella and the deaths of Bill Williamson and Dutch Van Der Linde really got the attention of most of the other outlaws out there." John didn't seem fazed by this news. "And this concerns me how?" Next Reynolds, a well built man with a prominent mutton chop moustache and looked to be in his early forties spoke up in a gruff tone of voice. "Dutch Van Der Linde was an undisputed legend while the other two were just common menaces." Ross quickly interrupted. "Van Der Linde was a common menace too Captain never forget that." Reynolds coughed into his hand. "Right sir anyway the outlaws out there have begun to call you by the title "The man who took on the west." They view you as some sort of vigilante or a legendary bounty hunter." John knew what was coming and he didn't like where this was heading. "I'll give it to you straight John they know who you are. We have very good reason to believe that your family may be in danger." And there it was. John's very worst fear in one sentence except it wasn't the government boys he had to worry about now._

"_But what would they want with me? Why would they want me dead?" Ross spoke in a harsh tone. "You of all people should know John. Bragging rights, bounties on your head, bets on who can put a bullet into "The man who took on the west's" head first. Some very big fish out there think that you're out to sabotage and dismantle their schemes and organizations. Now normally I'd let them have you but now I see a golden opportunity to transform America into a land of justice. We are just a few steps closer now." _

_John looked intently at the group of three. "But why send me out there? I want to be put into protective custody with my family." Ross smirked once again. "We have to keep your reputation out there alive, John. Believe it or not a lot of outlaws are quaking in their boots at the mere existence of you." John was furious now. "And how the hell do you expect that to work!? I'm a dead man walking out there I'm not even safe here!"_

_Ross decided to take a more serious approach now. "Because outlaws, like normal common decent folk, know how to ask around the town. They know who you interacted with or at least it's very likely that they do." John was shocked. "I have to warn them." Ross shook his head in all his seriousness "Exactly, John. You are well aware of what these animals are capable of."_

_And so here he was helpless at the hands of a small band of common cattle rustlers. Certainly not how he expected things to work out so early in this new chapter of his life._

_But the strangest thing was that despite all the jeering and cheering of the rustlers talking about how they caught the new western legend and how they would present him to some outlaw big shots for a very large bounty collection of $10,000 and now they went quiet all of a sudden after their voices calmed down and they went on guard duties while some probably fell asleep this late at night. But now they were completely silent._

_John was snapped out of his thoughts when his eyes caught the site of a pair of small bare feet in front of him standing a short distance away. As he slowly raised his eyes up in suppressed fear and curiosity he saw the ever revealing image of a feminine figure wearing black clothing and dark gloves, one of them holding a blood stained hunting knife. When his eyes reached the head he saw a black bandanna covered face with visible blond hair at the top and eyes staring into his. He couldn't help but feel that this woman is very familiar until she reached the other gloved hand up to pull down the bandanna._

_John's eyes widened in shock._

"_Bonnie?"_

"_It's a pleasure to be saving your life once again Mr. Marston."_

**Disclaimer: Red Dead Redemption belongs to Rock Star.**


End file.
